Denmark prepares to close airspace to Russian planes

Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said on Twitter his country would “be closing its airspace for Russian aircraft”.

“At today’s meeting of EU ministers of foreign affairs we will push for an EU-wide ban,” Kofod said.

Already a number of other countries – such as Sweden, Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Poland – have closed their airspace to Russian flights, forcing westbound Russian planes to make enormous diversions.

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Moscow, for its part, has also banned planes from certain countries from flying over its territory, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany and Poland.

EU leaders will meet again later today to discuss the latest package of sanctions against Russia.